This past Saturday, the San Francisco 2026 Chinese New Year Parade took place at 5:15 p.m. The event started on Market & 2nd Street, and through Market, went to Geary, Powell, Post, Kearny and Columbus, finally leaving off between Pacific & Washington, according to SFMTA. It celebrated the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse, which began on Feb. 17 this year.
The Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is a cultural holiday celebrated throughout San Francisco, and shows up in various events, such as the Flower Market Fair, the San Francisco Symphony’s Lunar New Year concert and the Miss Chinatown USA Pageant. The Chinese New Year Parade is one of the events amongst these, and garners many viewers, especially via television, according to Chinese New Year Festival & Parade.
“This year, I liked watching Eileen Gu, the skier,” Mandarin teacher Yuhong Yao said. “Also I really liked seeing the cartoons about the Horse, the Labubu and the dragon in the parade,”
The annual parade includes decorated floats, traditional lion dances, various school groups, organized bands and numerous other entertainment features. This year, the Parade Grand Marshal, or the leader of the parade, was Olympic gold skier Eileen Gu.
“I didn’t know Eileen Gu was going to be in the parade, but I saw the clip of her and her mom setting fireworks on the news,” sophomore Angela You said. “I think attending the parade represented her cultural background and ties to her home city of SF.”
As part of the preparation, staging and cleaning for the parade, several streets were closed off. In addition, certain Muni services were rerouted so as to not interfere with the event. As a result, people trying to navigate through the area were instructed to either walk around the parade or cross to the other side through the underground Muni stations.
“My friend and I were trying to get to an event near the parade,” junior Ainsley Smith said. “Due to the closed streets, it was a little difficult, but it was cool to see the presentations as we walked around nearby.”
Overall, the parade remains a strong community event, marking a shared celebrated culture. Through the parade, participants and spectators may learn from and be entertained by the performers and presenters, fostering cultural unity throughout the city, according to Yao.
“We used to have older Chinese New Year Parades just in Chinatown,” Yao said. “But now we have ones like in the Richmond District, so everywhere has a stronger Chinese culture than before – it spreads out to more places.”
